Andrei Vasilevskiy allowed 2 goals on 33 shots for the victory. He was his usual outstanding self tonight, putting up the forcefield to allow the Lightning to craft a 3 goal lead through 40 minutes that they ultimately nursed to the finish line.

Nikita Kucherov and Andrei Vasilevskiy were the game's second and third stars.

The Lightning did exactly what you want to do in a road game against an inferior opponent: they jumped on them early to get out to the 2-0 lead, built it to 3-0 after 40 minutes with some opportunism and some good goaltending. And, once you've got a 3 goal lead through 40 minutes, that's typically a knockout. As proven again in this game, teams may pull to within a goal in that scenario (the so-called "false hope goal") but they rarely get closer.

Somppi assisted on the game’s first two goals, both markers by Filip Zadina (2018 draft eligible), including what would be the game-winner in the 2nd period. Somppi earned Third Star honors. Sompii now sits tied for 3rd in the Q for total points, 3rd in league in assists, and continues to lead the Q in plus-minus.

Raddysh scored and assisted on two 2nd period goals that gave the Soo a 3-0 lead at the 2nd intermission, but the Spirit scored thrice in the 3rd to send the game to overtime where Morgan Frost (PHI, 2017 1st round pick) netted the game-winner for the Greyhounds. Since dropping two straight, the Soo have won five consecutive games as they lead the OHL as the best team.

Last Sunday, both Raddysh and Katchouk assisted on Hayden Verbeek’s (undrafted) game-winning goal in the Soo’s road win 5-2 over the Spirit. Raddysh potted an empty netter and assisted on another goal in that game. On Wednesday night, Raddysh scored on the power play and Katchouk assisted on a Morgan Frost tally as the Greyhounds blanked Sudbury.

Former Sudbury winger Troy Lajeunesse scored twice for the Otters as Erie doubled the hapless Wolves. The Sudbury winless streak stands at five games, as the Wolves are by far and away the worst team in the league.

Sixteen year-old Nick Robertson (2020 draft eligible) scored both Petes goals, but the Generals got goals from eight different players as Oshawa put up a snowman Peterborough in front of 3800+ of their fans. The Petes winless streak now reaches eight games.

On Thursday night, Paquette assisted on Pavel Gogolev’s (2018 draft eligible) 2-1 go-ahead power play marker in the 2nd period. But the Bulldogs would reel off three straight and steal two points on road.

Cale Foote scored both of the Rockets goals, but the Silvertips put up the snowman on the scoreboard to sweep the home-and-home series between Everett and Kelowna. Getting a Third Star from hometown Everett press on a eight-goal night speaks volumes to Foote’s play, along with that +1 rating. Patrick Bajkov (undrafted) netted a hat trick and five points for the Silvertips and Garrett Pilon (WAS, 2016 3rd round pick) scored twice and tallied four points of his own.

Last Tuesday, Foote earned First Star for his goal and two assists against the Tigers, leading the Rockets to a 5-2 victory. Foote opened the scoring late in the first and then assisted on a pair of 2nd period power play goals by Carsen Twarynski (PHI, 2016 3rd round pick) and Kole Lind (VAN, 2017 2nd round pick).

Sam Steel (ANA, 2016 1st round pick) scored twice and added a couple of assists for a four-point night to lead the Pats to the OT win against the visiting Raiders. Prince Albert rallied from a 4-1 deficit at the 2nd intermission, scoring thrice in the 3rd to force overtime. Cameron Hebig (undrafted) fired a game-high eight shots, finally converted in overtime to give Regina the win.

Hajek fired a team-high seven shots last Sunday as part of a Regina 42-shot effort against the Broncos in a losing effort. On Wednesday night, Hajek racked up five more shots in a winning effort against the Cougars.

Howden earned Second Stars honors, assisting on Justin Almeida’s (2018 draft eligible) 30th goal of the season, a power play marker in the 2nd as the Warrior built up a 4-0 lead before Josh Maser (undrafted) finally solved Adam Evanoff (undrafted) late in the 3rd for Cougars lone goal.

Friday:: Red Deer Rebels 3 @ Moose Jaw Warriors 1

Friday night, Howden assisted on Moose Jaw’s lone goal by Josh Brook (MTL, 2017 2nd round pick) in a losing effort at home to the visiting Rebels from Red Deer.

United States Hockey League

** Note: Cole Guttman (Dubuque) was placed on injured reserved on December 22nd following the completion of the World Junior A Challenge tournament.

Perbix assisted on both of Omaha’s 1st period goals, including a shortie by Filip Suchy (undrafted) and earned Second Star honors. The Lancers added two more goals in the 3rd period to earn the victory over the Flying Aces to sweep the back-to-back series.

Walker scored a goal and added three assists as the Hornets scored twenty against the outmatched Royals. Mason Nevers notched four goals and seven points, and Liam Malmquist (uncommitted) and Evan Shoemaker (uncommitted) both netted hat tricks in the win. The Hornets next play the Minnetonka Skippers next Saturday night.

The Syracuse Crunch's effort early was erased by the Utica Comets’ four unanswered goals.

The Crunch allowed two goals in a 16 second span late in the second period to tie the score and the Comets scored the eventual game-winner on the power play in the third, as Syracuse fell to Utica, 4-2, at the Onondaga County War Memorial Saturday.

“I think we’ve got to be pleased with the way we played for 29 minutes,” Crunch head coach Benoit Groulx said. “Then they had that bad goal late in the … second and then they made a good play and scored the second goal. The game changed and then we had some chances. I thought (Comets goalie Richard) Bachman was the best player for them tonight. He made some great stops and then they were very opportunistic scoring on that power play.

“They’re a good team. We were a good team tonight. We’ve got to be pleased with what we accomplished tonight, but obviously it wasn’t enough.”

Andrei Vasilevskiy allowed 4 goals on 46 shots for the victory. He wasn't his sharpest through 40 minutes, although I can't call any of the goals he allowed overly soft. He did seem to get the rust off in the Third Period.

I'm going to venture a guess that Jon Cooper will be happy with the result, but he won't like how wide open and wild this game ultimately was. In the end, the Lightning's victory was built on a soft goal surrendered off the rush to Peca at the end of the Second Period that gave them much better position for the comeback going into the final frame and then two absolutely putrid softies from horrible angles to Cory Conacher that ended up being the game winning goal and the last bit of dirt on the Flames' collective graves in this contest. Two summers ago the Flames weren't willing to pay the price Steve Yzerman was commanding for Ben Bishop. Not sure that decision aged well tonight.

TAMPA BAY – The Tampa Bay Lightning have acquired goaltender Edward Pasquale from the Edmonton Oilers in exchange for future considerations, vice president and general manager Steve Yzerman announced today.

Pasquale, 27, has appeared in 16 games with the Bakersfield Condors of the American Hockey League this season, compiling a record of 6-5-4 to go along with a 2.60 goals-against average and .910 save percentage. He leads the Condors for goals-against average and save percentage.

The 6-foot-2, 215-pound goaltender has played in 211 career AHL games over seven seasons with the Condors, Grand Rapids Griffins, St. John’s IceCaps and Chicago Wolves, posting a record of 100-83-10 to go along with a 2.60 goals-against average, a .913 save percentage and 15 shutouts. Pasquale set a career high for wins with 23 while with the IceCaps during the 2011-12 season.

Pasquale was originally drafted by the Atlanta Thrashers in the fourth round, 117th overall, at the 2009 NHL Draft.

Additionally, the Bakersville Condors have acquired forward Ty Loney and goaltender Nic Riopel from the Syracuse Crunch for future considerations.

Pretty evenly played First Period with the Lightning maybe getting a shade better scoring chances and getting the late 1-0 lead. However, a 5-on-3 goal for Winnipeg seemed to completely chance the complexion of the game. Winnipeg controlled the balance of the remainder of the game and never really looked back, eventually outshooting Tampa Bay 37-24 in total. Fatigue may have been a component of this, coming off the break and having to fly all the way to Winnipeg, so I'm not ready to sound any alarm bells over this outcome.

The biggest silver lining was, of course, the early return of Victor Hedman to the lineup in 25:00 of action. Knees must be made of rubber bands.

Tampa Bay finishes their first unsuccessful 10-game segment of the year with just 10 points over those 10 games. They subtract 2 from their cache of insurance points and now have 11 insurance points going into the final three segments of the campaign.

Peca had a ruthless finish in tight for his goal and was +1 with 4 shots and 1 blocked shot in 13:10. He was also 67% on 12 draws against a very good Jets team in the faceoff circles and got some PK time at a key juncture in the Third Period.

Colton had virtually the same stat line Saturday as he did Friday when he had a goal and an assist and scored the game-winning goal late in the third period. He got his goal in overtime Saturday, earning another first star.